Performing "the Other": Rap as Social Change in the Danish Integration Project C:NTACT

A group of youngsters perform their self-composed rap lyrics on stage in the Betty Nansen Theater in Copenhagen. The theater claims, that the performance portraits the youngsters as they truly are – as opposed to the medias portrayal. The play is part of an integration project, co-financed by the Danish Ministry of Integration.
This essay presents a critical analysis of the representation of the youngsters on stage. The analysis is especially based on the concepts of performance and performativity and on hip-hop as a genre framework for the representation.